Finally Happy
by othravenslvr
Summary: Oneshot for OTH911 Challenge. Peyton and Nathan meet unexpectantly in an airport 10 years after high school. Nathan has a surprise shocker for Peyton and is Peyton finally happy?


Title: Wish I Could've Seen it Happen By: Justine, othravenslvr Challenge: 10 Years Later (Beginner/Intermediate) Word Count: 2,490 Rating: PG Pairing: Nathan/Haley, Lucas/Brooke, Peyton/new guy, Jake/new girl, Brooke/Peyton friendship, Nathan/Peyton friendship -  
Nathan pushed his way through the crowd, making his way up to the glowing screen hanging on the wall for what seemed like the millionth time that afternoon. His flight had already been delayed twice and the airport scenery had gotten dull hours ago. Scanning the numbers, he groaned and rubbed his head, muttering to himself as he made his way back out of the crowd. He felt a tug on his pants leg and instantly looked down.  
"What's wrong, Daddy?" He smiled in spite of himself and bent down, sitting on one knee and gazing into the girl's beautiful hazel eyes, her mother's eyes. "Nothing. We just have to wait awhile longer, okay? Did you call Mommy to tell her where we were?" The small girl grinned at him and nodded.  
"Good girl. You want to go get a snack"  
The small girl's face lit up and she nodded again, jumping up and down, clearly excited. Nathan took her hand and raised himself up. As he stood, he felt someone hit his back. He pushed his daughter out of the way as he and the other person were sent flying back down towards the ground. The woman quickly stood and brushed herself off, talking quickly and apologizing as Nathan sat on the ground and gazed up at her.  
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry, really. I'm so"  
The young woman stopped suddenly as she looked down and stared straight into the face of the man she'd tripped over, his dark hair a mess and his blue eyes shining. "N-Nathan?" she asked, her breath catching in her throat. Nathan quickly stood and brushed off his pants, staring back at her in disbelief. Her eyes sparkled as he took in the sight of her for the first time in almost ten years. "Hey, Peyton," he greeted, a smiled spreading across his own face.  
"Oh my god. Nathan!" she squealed, jumping up and embracing him.  
Nathan wrapped his arms around her and patted her back, pulling away with a smile. He put both of his hands on her shoulders and stood back, taking in her appearance. She looked so different, so mature, so confident, so not the Peyton he used to know. Her blond hair was a little shorter and darker, but the curls still bounced in front of her face like he remembered. Peyton gazed up into his blue eyes and smiled, memories from high school inundating her mind and her heart beating fast. This was the Nathan Scott she'd thought of so many times over the past few years, the confident, cocky, sweet-talking Nathan Scott.  
"Nathan! I just, I can't believe it's you!" she exclaimed, a little out of breath. "Me either. You look good, Peyton, really." "Yeah, you too, Scott"  
"So what have you been—" Nathan's last statement was cut short when he felt the familiar tug on his pants leg again. Reality hitting him hard and fast, he was pulled away from his high school walk down memory lane and remembered his daughter. He bent down and picked her up, twirling her around.  
"Are you okay, babe?" he asked quietly.  
"Uh-huh. You fell down, Daddy," she giggled.  
"Uh, yeah, I did, sweetie," he said, laughing and turning back to Peyton with a smile.  
The small girl finally looked to the side and noticed the blond woman standing next to them.  
"Hi!" she greeted Peyton cheerfully. "Well, hi." Peyton said, turning to Nathan and cocking her eyebrow.  
"Nathan Scott, tell me this isn't your little girl!" she exclaimed in disbelief as she gazed at the child in Nathan's arms.  
"Peyton, this is my daughter, Abigail Leigh Scott. Abby, this is Peyton. She was Mommy and Daddy's friend when we were in school." "Oh my god, Nathan," Peyton said in disbelief. "Hi, Abby. How old are you?" she asked quietly. The little girl with sparkling hazel eyes and honey brown hair smiled and held up three fingers. "Well! Aren't you a big girl!" Abby nodded and then turned back to her father, wriggling around in his arms to sit in closer to his chest.  
"Daddy, let's get a snack now!" she said. He kissed her forehead and set her down on the ground, pointing to the small gift shop in the airport and letting her run wildly towards it. Both Nathan and Peyton laughed as they watched her. Nathan picked up Peyton's bag and put a hand on her shoulder.  
"Let's talk…" he said, leading her towards the bench facing the store. They both sat down, side-by-side, as Nathan smiled and watched his young daughter browse through the store. He pulled his attention away and gazed at Peyton, who was watching Abby closely.  
"She looks so much like you, Nate," she whispered.  
"She looks so much like Haley," he replied, smiling as he thought of his wife. Peyton tore her gaze away from the little girl and looked into the face of the man she hadn't seen since high school.  
"How have you been, Nate?" she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder hesitantly. Nathan leaned back against the bench and sighed. "Good, everything's…good. Haley's gone on tour again. Abby and I flew up to see her show and now we're on our way home. Our flight's been delayed three times now"  
"Yeah, mine too," she said, settling back against the bench right next to him. "So…you and Haley"  
"We're good. We're happy. We had Abby three years ago and, everything just…changed. Haley's on tour again, so that's tough, but we still get to fly up to see some of her shows and she comes home as much as she can. We're happy, really happy," he let out with a sigh.  
They sat in silence for a moment and watched people walk by, some running to catch a flight, others walking slowly and mumbling to themselves. Then, Nathan turned back to Peyton.  
"How's your life, Sawyer? I mean, it is still Sawyer, right"  
Peyton laughed and nodded.  
"Not for long though, Nate," she said happily, holding out her left hand to display the engagement ring on her finger. He took her hand and gazed down at the ring. "Who is he Peyton"  
"His name is Michael"  
"Where'd you meet him?" "In school, and then we both ended up moving and working for the same company," she explained, smiling and gazing happily at her ring.  
"So, what happened to you and Jagelski"  
"Jake? We're still friends. I fly down to see him and Jenny a lot. He's got a girlfriend now, too, and she's a really sweet girl. She loves Jenny to death and Jake is so happy. He's really in love this time"  
"Well, I'm happy for him, then," he said. "And for you, Peyton. I'm glad you're happy. You are happy, right"  
Peyton looked up and met eyes with him and smiled.  
"Yeah, I'm happy, Nate"  
They sat in silence for a moment, watching Abby scurry through the store, before Peyton turned back to him.  
"Nathan"  
He turned his attention and cocked his eyebrow.  
"Yeah"  
"How, um, how's Lucas?" she asked quietly, hesitating as she asked. Nathan smiled slightly and sighed, putting a hand on her knee.  
"He's good, Peyton. Life is finally good for him again. He and Brooke got engaged awhile back, and they're going to be getting married next year. They went through a rocky time for a couple years. They broke up and went their separate ways, but they came back again. Lucas lives in an apartment a few blocks down from Haley and me, and Brooke lives not far from that. They're finally ready to settle down"  
Peyton smiled in spite of herself and looked back down, thinking.  
"I um, I've talked to Brooke a couple of times since high school, but nothing major. It's been so long since I've seen her or you or Lucas. I wish I lived closer"  
"Where are you living now, Pey"  
"California, putting all those years of mindless sketching to work," she confessed. "What about you, Nate. Where's home"  
"New York City, away from the days of everyone in town knowing everything about you," he said smiling, thinking back to his days in Tree Hill. Suddenly, both were pulled from their conversation as the little girl with bouncy, wavy hair came running up and stopped in front of her father.  
"Daddy! I found what I want"  
Nathan smiled and carefully laid a five dollar bill in her hand. "I'm watching you. Just give the lady the money and the candy and then come right back, okay"  
The little girl nodded and clutched the bill in her hand, taking off into the shop again. Peyton stared at Nathan as he gazed at his daughter, a smile on his face she had never seen before. Nathan watched as Abby ran back to him, her little feet thumping the ground loudly, and jumped into his lap. He opened her candy and she snuggled into his chest, content and smiling. "So, what college did you end up going to, Peyton?" "Savannah School of Art and Design. At the time, being near Jake was a major plus and it was a great school. I loved it. What about you"  
"Duke, basketball," he answered simply.  
The conversation came to a halt as they sat in silence, each of them having too much to say and nothing to say all at once. There were so many unanswered questions, so many things that they wanted to know but didn't want to ask. "So, um, you still keep in touch with anyone from back then?" Nathan asked, breaking the silence.  
"Um, like I said, I've talked to Brooke a couple of times, and I visit Jake a lot, but that's it really. I've actually um…okay, Lucas doesn't know this, but I've sort of been keeping in touch with Karen. Ever since she had her baby, we've been talking. Lucas doesn't know though, so you're not going to tell him, okay?" Nathan nodded in agreement, amazed that Karen had been talking to her all this time and no one had known. "You keep in touch with a lot of people since way back when"  
"Karen, Lucas, and Brooke of course. I still keep in touch with Tim"  
Peyton leaned her head back, groaned, and then laughed.  
"How is Dim anyway"  
Nathan laughed and nodded, running his fingers through his daughter's hair as he talked.  
"He's fine, got a girlfriend who's just as crazy as he is, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, your choice"  
Both of them laughed and gazed again at the people walking by.  
"It's weird…that we didn't keep in touch, you know"  
"Yeah, I know. It's funny. When we were in high school, dealing with all of the drama, we thought that the stuff we did and the friends we made, that they would last forever but they didn't. I mean, some of them did, like you and Haley and Brooke and Lucas, but like, me and Brooke, I wish we were still friends, they way we used to be," she confessed softly, twirling her engagement ring with her fingers.  
Nathan nodded in agreement and bounced Abby on his knee.  
"Well, how about we change all that, right now"  
"What?" Nathan pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and opened it up.  
"I want your number. We're not letting this happen again," he said, laughing.  
"Oh god, is the Nathan Scott asking for my number!" she asked, pretending to be amazed.  
Nathan laughed and gave the phone to Peyton. She programmed her number and handed it back to him, pulling out her own phone for him to do the same.  
They made small talk for almost ten minutes, catching each other up on their current lives and reliving high school memories, both good and bad. Interrupting their conversation, the loudspeaker came on.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are truly sorry for the delay. Flight 29 to San Francisco is now boarding"  
Peyton looked to Nathan and shrugged hesitantly.  
"I gotta go…" she said softly, not wanting to leave.  
He stood from the bench and slung her bag over his shoulder, helping her up.  
"C'mon, we'll walk you to your gate"  
Abby stood on the bench and held up her arms for her father to pick her up. Peyton smiled at Nathan and she picked up the sleepy little girl, talking softly to her as she nestled her head into Peyton's shoulder and closed her eyes.  
When they arrived at the gate, Nathan put Peyton's bag down on the floor and gazed at his daughter sleeping in his friend's arms. He smiled as Abby's legs trembled, obviously lost in a dream. It was only then that he felt Peyton staring at him. He looked back to her to find tears quivering in the corners of her eyes. "P-Peyton? What's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked, concerned, as he carefully took his daughter into his own arms.  
She smiled, took a deep breath, and nodded, laughing to cover her embarrassment.  
"I'm fine. You're just…I've never seen you this happy. The smile on your face when you look at this little girl…she's lucky, Nate, really lucky. I always knew you could be this guy, Nathan. I just…wish we'd stayed in touch so that I could see it happen," she said softly, stoking the girl's hair and staring into Nathan's eyes. Nathan used his free arm to pull Peyton into a strong embrace.  
"I've missed you, Peyton Sawyer," he whispered softly.  
"I've missed you too, Nathan Scott"  
"Last boarding call for Flight 29 to San Francisco!" the loudspeaker squawked again.  
Peyton pulled out of Nathan's arms and smiled at him through teary eyes.  
"Keep in touch, Scott. I mean it this time…" she said, picking up her bag and turning towards the door.  
"You too, Pey. Call me. We've missed you." he said smiling.  
Peyton took once last glance at him. There was Nathan Scott, standing and rocking his young daughter, waving goodbye to her. Yeah, this time, that number in her phone would be used, because honestly, she'd missed all of them, too. She smiled once more, waved, and headed out the door. Nathan watched Peyton leave and ran his hand over his daughter's hair. She raised her head and opened her sleepy eyes as he headed towards their own gate.  
"Daddy, where did Peyton go"  
"She went home, sweetie, just like we're going home"  
"But I'll see her again, right"  
Nathan smiled and nodded.  
"Yeah, honey. We'll see her again"  
With that, Abby grinned and closed her eyes again, snuggling against her father's chest and nestling her head against his shoulder. Nathan sat on the hard, plastic airport chair and rocked his daughter gently. "We'll see her again…" he whispered to himself once more as he leant his head back and closed his eyes, a smile slowly spreading across his face. 


End file.
